Gold Bullion Development (GBB, TSX-V)
Gold Bullion enjoyed an outstanding week, jumping 9.5 cents or 22% to close Friday at 53 cents as the CDNX heated up…the stock got a major lift thanks to a positive recommendation from Casey’s International Speculator…GBB’s technicals have also improved considerably which includes a reversal to the upside in the 20-day SMA, ending a decline that started in mid-January…the stock is now trading within a resistance band up to 60 cents, and the 50, 100 and 200-day SMA’s are still in decline, but sentiment has changed and that’s encouraging to see…investors should keep focused on the fundamentals that drove this play so hard in 2010 – the growing LONG Bars Zone and the potential of it to develop into a multi-million ounce system…more drill results were released last week…there were no eye-popping numbers but that’s okay – virtually ever hole continues to hit near-surface mineralization and tonnage keeps building…hole #179 (72.25 metres grading 1.25 g/t Au and 156 metres of 0.61 g/t Au) shows mineralization continues to push eastward from Pit #1…six holes drilled just NE and SE of #179 under the waste pile will be important to look for (holes #198, #199, #201, #248, #250, and #253 – assays to come)…hole #97 was a nice cut likely of Vein #2, 46.7 metres grading 1.51 g/t Au…holes like #69, #124, #136 and #193 don’t get most investors excited but they’re very important to the overall picture with long intersections of lower grade (177, 113, 189 and 165 metres respectively grading between 0.31 and 0.42 g/t Au)…Frank Basa will have no problem with those numbers, keeping in mind the “upgrading” effect at Granada…structure is there…more bulk sampling and different types of drilling will quantify and improve the grade…just a few holes reported from the southwest corner of the Block Model with many more to come from there – it continues to be a promising area…there were a smattering of holes from the Eastern Extension but nothing that jumped out at us…many more results are yet to come from the Eastern Extension including the northern part where good visuals were reported earlier…it’s interesting to note that on GBB’s drill map, three step-out holes have been drilled about 90 to 145 metres north of holes #55 and #108…we’ll be watching closely for results from those holes…assay results are now in on nearly half of the 228 holes completed so far (45,000 metres) in Phases 2 and 3…47,730 metres in total have been completed since December, 2009…the case for the LONG Bars Zone remains intact…much, much more drilling lies ahead as this is all about volume (which is why we wanted to see more than two rigs by 2011)…the 43-101 this summer will be extremely helpful in terms of pushing this exciting project forward…Gold Bullion is sitting on a potentially huge near-surface Gold deposit in one of the best jurisdictions in the world for mining and exploration during the greatest bull market in history for the yellow metal…GBB has gained 657% since we introduced it to BMR readers over 15 months ago and much more excitement in our view is yet to come from the LONG Bars Zone…
Cadillac Mining (CQX, TSX-V)
Like Gold Bullion, Cadillac appears to have turned a corner and enjoyed its first weekly gain in seven weeks…it closed Friday at 23 cents, a 4-cent improvement over the previous week…volume was still light, however…drilling is now underway on ground optioned to Visible Gold Mines (VGD, TSX-V)…a total of 7,400 hectares are in that package and VGD is starting with four holes within 800 metres of Vantex Resources‘ (VAX, TSX-V) Moriss Zone discovery at its Galloway Project, 30 kilometres west of Rouyn-Noranda…the opportunity with Cadillac is immense in our view given the company’s strategic land package in northwestern Quebec, the astute acquisition of a former Gold-Silver mining camp in Utah, and the tight share structure…the current market cap is only $6 million which allows for plenty of upside potential…management’s challenge is to “seize the moment” and capitalize on the excellent opportunities the company has been blessed with in order to drive shareholder value…technically, while the chart suffered some short-term deterioration over the past month or so, the 20-day SMA at 20 cents has just swung positive and should provide support as a potential new uptrend gains traction…Richmont’s (RIC, TSX) success at its Wasamac Property west of Rouyn-Noranda is very bullish for Cadillac which is now preparing an exploration program including diamond drilling for its adjacent 100%-owned “Wasa” claims…Richmont, which released a NI-43-101 report on Wasamac April 1, is drilling an additional 35,000 metres to upgrade and further expand resources at this growing deposit where the principal structure hosting Gold mineralization plunges north at a dip between 50 and 55 degrees toward Cadillac’s claims…while there’s no guarantee, of course, in theory there’s certainly the possibility that Cadillac’s Wasa claims at depth could host a significant high-grade extension of Richmont’s deposit…this is what Cadillac will be examining…in addition they’ll be going after some highly prospective VMS targets on the property…the infamous Horne Creek fault runs right through the Wasa claims and Cadillac discovered a zone last year (by deepening the only hole they’ve ever drilled on the property) that’s interpreted to be a feeder system typical of those seen under VMS systems in the Noranda camp…Cadillac’s Wasa clams have excellent potential and we’re pleased to see they intend on proceeding with a drill program…actions speak louder than words, however, and investors are anxious to see some positive developments as quickly as possible…
Abcourt Mines (ABI, TSX-V)
Volume picked up considerably in Abcourt Thursday and Friday as the stock strengthened and closed the week up 2.5 cents at 19.5 cents…Silver prices over $40 an ounce are definitely very bullish for Abcourt…the company has arranged an 18-cent financing with Alliance Securities Inc. to raise between $3.5 and $5.5 million…boosting its cash position will help Abcourt but this is a company that does need to tell its story more effectively in order to maximize shareholder value…Abcourt is sitting on some tremendous assets that simply aren’t being fully valued by the market…the most effective strategy for Abcourt moving forward, we believe, is to re-brand itself as an exploration play only and drop any plans for putting any of its properties into production…all they need to do is drill, drill, drill at both Elder-Tagami and Abcourt-Barvue as both properties still have considerable exploration upside…as resources increase, other companies will be watching and Abcourt can then put itself into play as a potential takeover target…this would be a much simpler strategy and one that we believe would resonate with investors…Abcourt released more positive assay results March 3 from its ongoing 10,000 metre drill program at its Elder-Tagami Gold Project near Rouyn-Noranda…mineralization continues to expand to the west of the former underground Elder Mine…the Tagami area to the north, meanwhile, has untapped potential including some higher grades…the latest NI-43-101 resource estimate of 216,000 ounces was released in the summer of 2009…the possibility of Abcourt expanding that resource beyond 500,000 ounces certainly exists given the encouraging results to date (look what Richmont has done at Wasamac)…meanwhile, Abcourt released results February 15 from six more holes at its Abcourt-Barvue Silver-Zinc Property near Val d’Or and the numbers continue to be very encouraging…the holes were all drilled 150 to 200 metres from surface and five of them intersected two zones of high-grade silver and zinc…Hole #16 cut 152.26 g/t Ag over 12.7 metres…the 10,000 metre drill program at Abcourt-Barvue continues with the goal of upgrading and augmenting existing NI-43-101 reserves and resources…Abcourt-Barvue is a former producer and one of the best Silver assets in the country with nearly 20 million ounces in all-category reserves and resources (plus nearly 300,000 tonnes of zinc)…the heavy accumulation that began in Abcourt in December was no fluke in our view…this is a company with significant assets that could justify a substantially higher valuation…nearly 60 million shares of ABI changed hands on the CDNX in December and January – record volume for this stock, accompanied by a price jump from 14.5 cents…we’ve seen these type of volume surges before and they are always a very positive sign…Abcourt is being accumulated, and our best guess is that some savvy players like the assets in the ground…continued drilling success and even higher prices for Gold, Silver and zinc would be exciting developments for this stock which has a history of major moves…from mid-2005 to early 2006, Abcourt rocketed from 15 cents to nearly $1.40…
Currie Rose Resources (CUI, TSX-V)
Currie Rose gained 3 pennies last week to close at 17.5 cents, half a penny above its 50-day SMA which has now flattened out and appears ready to head north…buying pressure has increased significantly this month as demonstrated by the CMF…the 200 and 300-day SMA’s continue to rise while the declining 100-day SMA, currently at 23.5 cents, will provide some short-term resistance…the rainy season has not been as severe as usual in northwest Tanzania and that’s good news as Currie Rose prepares to launch a major drill program during this second quarter…while its Tanzanian properties are the market’s major focus, Currie Rose could benefit over the coming weeks and months from continued good exploration news from Trueclaim Exploration (TRM, TSX-V) which is currently conducting an 8,000 metre drill program at the Scadding Gold Property near Sudbury…Trueclaim, which released assay results March 4 including 15.78 metres grading 5.36 g/t Au near-surface, is in the process of earning a 51% interest in Scadding by carrying out a $2 million work commitment…Trueclaim can acquire a full 100% interest by completing a feasibility study, paying $2 million to Currie Rose, and giving Currie Rose a 3% net smelter royalty…CUI announced a joint-venture deal January 25 with Australian-based Liontown Resources for Currie’s Jubilee Reef Gold Project in Tanzania…CUI’s focus is on the Sekenke and Mabale Hills Projects, so finding a partner for Jubilee Reef made sense…the deal commits Liontown to at least 5,000 metres of drilling at the property this year which will give Currie Rose a minimum of 23,000 metres of drilling at all of its properties in 2011…while Currie Rose has had its market cap shaved considerably, from a high of nearly $40 million to the current $15 million, what hasn’t changed is the quality of this company’s project portfolio which remains as high as it ever was in our view…Currie Rose has all the cash it needs ($2 million) to complete an initial major round of drilling (10,000 metres) this spring and summer in Tanzania, so there will not be any dilution of the stock at current levels as confirmed by President and CEO Harold Smith…
Richfield Ventures (RVC, TSX-V)
It was a week of tremendous accomplishment for the Richfield group as the company announced a plan of arrangement last Monday with New Gold Inc. (NGD, TSX) for a takeover of Richfield (in NGD stock) valued at $10.38 per RVC share or $550 million…we’ve been speculating on a potential buyout of Richfield for some time now…the proposed deal is certainly a very positive fit for New Gold whose New Afton Project in the interior of British Columbia, not far from Blackwater, is on target to start production by the middle of next year…New Gold sees some obvious synergies between the two deposits…Richfield recently outlined approximately 4 million ounces of Gold in the indicated and inferred categories at Blackwater in a NI-43-101 resource estimate released March 2…will another company step into the picture and start a takeover battle for Richfield?…the possibility of that can’t be ruled out, especially with the market heating up once again and the likelihood in the minds of some that the current resource at Blackwater could be expanded significantly…we’re now living in a world where there is a fierce battle for resources of all types…Richfield gained $2.09 for the week or 26% and the stock is now up 735% since we introduced it to BMR readers in December, 2009, at $1.20…the Blackwater Gold District is still full of opportunity for investors and we encourage readers to check out the web site, www.BlackwaterGoldDistrict.com…